SOURCES SOUGHT
A -- Advanced Information Extraction (ADIE) Research, Development and Transition
- Notice Date
- 10/16/2002
- Notice Type
- Sources Sought
- Contracting Office
- Department of the Air Force, Air Force Materiel Command, AFRL - Rome Research Site, AFRL/Information Directorate 26 Electronic Parkway, Rome, NY, 13441-4514
- ZIP Code
- 13441-4514
- Solicitation Number
- F30602-03-R-0002
- Point of Contact
- Janis Norelli, Small Business Specialist, Phone 315/330-3311, Fax 315/330-2784,
- E-Mail Address
-
janis.norelli@rl.af.mil
- Description
- Reference the previous Source Sought notice for Solicitation No. F30602-02-R-0198 published on 01 AUG 2002 and rescinded on 05 AUG 2002. This Research and Development Sources Sought notice supercedes the previous notice and establishes a new solicitation number. Capable sources are sought to perform software research and development for the IFE Division, Air Force Research Laboratory, Rome Research Site, Rome NY (AFRL Rome). AFRL Rome has a requirement to enhance existing Information Extraction (IE) applications that are already under development for various user sites, and to develop advanced automated IE techniques to better meet our users' requirements for effective text exploitation. Existing IE applications include, but are not limited to, the Intermediate Text Exploitation ATD (ITEA) for the National Air Intelligence Center (NAIC), IE applications for the Joint Warfare Analysis Center (JWAC), and the IE CounterDrug system for SOUTHCOM and the Joint Inter-Agency Task Force-East (JIATF-E). Access to these sites and most of their textual data requires a Top Secret clearance. Enhancements are needed to make required improvements to these systems, and to evolve and extend the systems' functionalities to more effectively exploit information in text, to better meet the needs of specific user sites, and to better meet the special needs of various types of users at these sites. This will involve researching, developing, and transitioning enhancements to the systems' architectures, and to the IE, Information Management, Database Management, Knowledge Base, Analysis and Visualization, and Pre- and Post-processing functionalities. It will also involve working closely with users, at various classified user sites, to collect user requirements, develop concepts of employment, analyze data, perform system installations, provide demonstrations and familiarization, evaluate system performance, collect iterative feedback on the system, and to provide maintenance support. If IE technology does not exist or is not mature enough to meet our users' requirements for effective text exploitation, the intent is to research advanced IE techniques to address these IE technology gaps. In addition, new IE applications may be developed, if needed, to meet the unique text exploitation requirements of specific user groups. The technology developed under this effort will support the global awareness requirement for military and intelligence applications. This effort is to provide the necessary mechanisms for fast, effective, affordable, and unbiased access to those system integration, IE, and related contractors who are best qualified to meet the aforementioned requirements, as determined by the Government. Anticipated deliverables include software and technical documentation. An indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity cost-plus-fixed-fee (completion) type contract is contemplated with an ordering period of 60 months. The prime contractor and system integrators for this contract must have Top Secret SCI security clearances. Responses to this sources sought are requested from small businesses and will be used for market research purposes and possible set-aside. Should the determination be made to select this as a small business set-aside, another notice will be posted reflecting such. The North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code for this acquisition is 541710 and the size standard for small business is 500 employees. Respondents to this announcement should indicate whether they are a small business, 8(a) concern, veteran-owned small business, service-disabled veteran-owned small business, HUBZone small business, small disadvantaged business, women-owned small business, or historically black college or university (HBCU) or minority institution (MI) (as defined by the clause at DFARS 252.226-7000). As discussed at FAR 19.502-2(b)(2), in making R&D small business set-asides, there must be a reasonable expectation that offers will be obtained from at least two responsible small business concerns and also a reasonable expectation of obtaining the best scientific and technological sources consistent with the demands of the proposed acquisition for the best mix of cost, performances, and schedules. The same considerations would apply to any HBCU/MI set-aside. Therefore, respondents should provide a statement of capabilities and information demonstrating management and technical experience on similar acquisitions and resources necessary to successfully compete for this award. See Numbered Note 25. This information will assist the Air Force in making a set-aside decision. Provide information on at least three (3) contracts for similar work within the past five (5) years. Include complete references, contract titles, dollar values, points of contact and telephone numbers. The Government will evaluate relevant experience information based on (1) information provided by the Offeror, (2) information obtained from the references provided by the respondent, and/or (3) data independently obtained from other Government and commercial sources. Respondents must demonstrate knowledge/expertise in the following areas (where "extraction" refers to information extraction from unstructured text): IE from unstructured text (domain portable techniques that need to be applied to very large volumes of text from diverse textual media); Verb Sense Disambiguation (VSD); high precision extraction and normalization of temporal and spatial information; correctly determining the normalized temporal and spatial information to associate with extracted information objects (entities, relationships, events); within document co-reference resolution; automated creation of Entity Profiles; Cross-Document Merging of information extracted from unstructured text; Relationship Extraction; concept-based Event Extraction; automated domain-porting of IE to new user topics and sources; high precision extraction of entities, relationships and events from case-insensitive text; automated IE, Analysis and Visualization Systems; open systems architectures; Systems Integration; Requirements Analysis and Specification; software development; effective software development processes; risk mitigation; and project management. In addition to the statement of capabilities, please provide answers to the following questions: (1) Does your company intend to submit a proposal in response to the upcoming solicitation as a prime contractor? (2) How many people does your company employ? (3) Will you need to hire additional personnel to perform this effort? (4) Is your company's cost accounting system approved by DCAA or DCMC? If not, how would your company financially administer a cost-reimbursement type contract? (5) Are there any other factors concerning your company's ability to perform the upcoming effort that the Air Force should consider? Respondents are requested to indicate their status as a foreign-owned/foreign-controlled firm and any contemplated use of foreign national employees on this effort. Large businesses are also encouraged to submit e-mails of intent should this effort not be selected as a small business set-aside. A technical read library relating to the subject area of this acquisition is available for review by potential offerors. Access may be gained by contacting the Program Manager at 315-330-4477. The library contains sensitive technical data; therefore, prior to access being granted, respondents must submit a copy of an approved DD Form 2345, "Militarily Critical Technical Data Agreement," which certifies the respondent is on the Certified Contractor Access List (CCAL), along with a letter from the Data Custodian designated on that form, authorizing access by whomever will be reviewing the library, to the Program Manager at Air Force Research Laboratory/IFEA, 32 Brooks Road, Rome, New York 13441-4114, or fax to his attention at 315-330-2822. For further information on CCAL, contact the Defense Logistics Information Service at 1-888-352-9333 or on the web at http://www.dlis.dla.mil/jcp/. The draft Request for Proposal is expected to be posted for review and comment by potential offerors on or before 22 Nov 2002. The formal solicitation is expected to be released within the 1st quarter of the Government fiscal year 2003. Refer to the web link in this notice for any milestone updates. When it is issued, the entire solicitation will be issued on the Federal Business Opportunities (FedBizOpps) website at http:www.fedbizopps.gov. All prospective offerors are responsible for monitoring this site for the release of all other information pertaining to this solicitation. An Ombudsman has been appointed to hear significant concerns from offerors or potential offerors during the proposal development phase of this acquisition. Routine questions, such as clarifications of the Statement of Scope or the terms and conditions are not considered to be "significant concerns" and should be communicated directly to the Contract Specialist at 315-330-7116. The purpose of the Ombudsman is not to diminish the authority of the contracting officer or program manager, but to communicate contractor concerns, issues, disagreements and recommendations to the appropriate Government personnel. The Ombudsman for this acquisition is the Deputy Chief, Contracting Division, at 315-330-7748. When requested, the Ombudsman will maintain strict confidentiality as to the source of the concern. The Ombudsman does not participate in the evaluation of proposals or in the source selection process. The Ombudsman should only be contacted with issues or problems that have been previously brought to the attention of the Contract Specialist and could not be satisfactorily resolved at that level. See Numbered Note 26. All qualification packages must be addressed to the attention of Janis Norelli AFRL/IFB at the address referenced at the beginning of this notice, and must be received by 4:00 P.M., EST, on 31 OCT 2002. Responses must reference the solicitation number, and contain the respondent's Commercial and Government Entity (CAGE) code, email address, mailing address and FAX number.
- Record
- SN00188870-W 20021018/021016213337 (fbodaily.com)
- Source
-
FedBizOpps.gov Link to This Notice
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